Wild Whirlpool Child
by silly60
Summary: Structured and strict Hannah Evens found herself reborn as Kushina Uzumaki. Sure one of her regrets was that she did not live enough for herself, but this world is just crazy! Loud and crazy clan members are one thing, but how does one deal with this messed up world run by ninja? Hannah now Kushina is just going to have to find out! (Semi-SI) SI!Kushina Minato/Kushina pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with the Naruto franchise** **Masashi Kishimoto does.**

"Normal Talking"

" _Thoughts and Flashbacks"_

" **Summon talking/ Bijuu talking** "

 **Wild Whirlpool Child**

 **Chapter 1**

I came into the world screaming.

For what seemed like forever I had floated in a dark comforting void. The only sounds I had heard in my sparse instances of consciousness was a constant lub-dub sound and strangely the far off mummer of two voices.

Being squeezed through a contracting and tight tube into a bright blinding light was disconcerting.

Noise assaulted my ears. Numerous voices spoken from all around me in a language that I could not understand.

I tried to open my eyes to see what was going on around me, but everything was just too blurry. Large hands grabbed at me and manhandled my squirming body into being wrapped up in a fluffy blanket.

I then felt myself being carried in this new small body I found myself in by large hands.

Tears continued to fall down my face in my frightened state.

" _What is going on?"_ I questioned.

" _Were am I and why am I not dead?"_ I thought as my mind scrambled to remember what led to me ending up in this situation.

My head hurt like something fierce. The last thing I remember was pain ripping through my chest. So much pain. Then a strange spreading coolness spreading throughout my body.

I was a twenty-six year old woman. Sergeant Hannah Evens of the US Marians. Not some screaming new born baby!

The fresh memories of my death of being shot and killed in the line of duty said otherwise.

Suddenly the jostling movement stopped and I was once again passed off to a new person. One who smelled strongly of sweat. This new person carefully took me in their arms and arranged me so that they were cradling me against their chest and because of this I could tell that it was a woman.

She began to softly mummer to me.

[1.] "Hasshu wa ima watashi no chīsana Kushina-chan wa naki suru hitsuyō wa arimasen! "She cooed softly.

[2.] "Watashi wa anata no hahaoya Kishiko gozen, soreha saishūtekini wa anata o mitasu tame ni totemo īdesu!"

Her voice was soft and comforting to me. I tried opening my eyes again because I wanted to see the face of the woman whose very voice brought peace to my troubled mind.

All I could make out was a blob of red! The bright color hurt my eyes, so I closed them again.

Though I had no idea what she was saying to me the soft words she spoke resonated with me and made me listen. The tone sounded meaningful. Something made me feel as if she was someone important to me.

At the end of the woman murmured words to me a new voice suddenly chimed in loudly.

[3.] "Soshite, watashi wa anata no chichi Katsuodesu! Dettekina!"A male voice yelled from practically right next to me.

I whimpered in fear from the sudden noise.

[4.] "Nē, katsuo-kun o bakkuappu! Anata wa sukoshi Kushina-chan gyo~tsu!" the woman yelled right back.

[5.] "Dakara, Kishiko-chan o imi shimasu! Watashi wa chōdo watashitachi no musume ni jibun jishin o shōkai shitakatta nodesu." The man's voice wined in answer to what the woman said.

[6.] "Watashi wa anata ga kōfun shite iru shitte imasu! Watashi modesu. Kanojo wa watashitachi no saisho no kodesu. Watashitachi no chīsana on'na no akachan!" the woman said in a more calm voice.

" _Jeeze, these two are very weird. Maybe even a bit bipolar."_ I though listening to the two people seemingly argue back and forth.

Even though I did not know what the two were saying, trying to listen carefully to what they were saying proved to be fruitful.

I recognized words such as kaa-chan and tou-chan. They were the Japanese words for "mother" and "father". The honorifics of "-chan" and "-kun" were also very recognizable.

Was I reborn somewhere in Japan and then man and woman must be my new parents? Though the bright red haired blobs of my parents did make me wonder a bit.

 _Oh! My head was really starting to hurt!_ I moaned in my thoughts.

The excitement of the moment was starting too died down and I started to drift to sleep. Before this happened I found a soft, squishy, flesh object in my face. The round pinkish center being directed towards my mouth. Instinct told me to latch on and suck. So I did.

As I drifted off into unconsciousness with the tasted of a liquidly rice substance in my mouth I heard the couple whispering soft soothing words to me.

[7.] "Kushina-chan o shinpaishinaide kudasai. Anata no papa to watashi wa kore ni atarashī kamo shirenaiga, wareware wa anata ni hijō ni ōku o aishi, anatatowatashi-tachi no saizen o shiyou to shite imasu." My new mother quietly whispered.

[8.] "Soreha yakusokudesu! Dettekina!" My father announced in a loud whisper.

* * *

From then on time passed quickly in a somewhat routine. After my nerve wracking first day of being born I barely have any energy to do anything other than eat, sleep, and poop. Mostly I just slept.

Strangely enough while I slept in this new infant body I dreamed, but these dreams were mostly memories of my past life as Hannah Evens.

Hannah had been a young woman from a rich military family. From day one she had practically been raised with the conclusion that she would go into a career in the military when she was older.

When relatives visited all of the adults talked about was their careers in the military and the younger generation talked about how close they were to the goal of join their chosen branch.

Unsurprisingly Hannah also wanted to follow family tradition as she grew older. The Evens family had a lot of money because of how high up they were in the military and could afford to send Hannah to some of the most expensive schools to get the best education.

She was a smart girl and thrived with all the information constantly being thrown her way. Hannah was the type of person most people were jealousy of, the person who did amazing in school and even seemed to love it.

Hannah was a serious child and came off as standoffish to those who did not know her and because of this did not have too many friends outside of her family member. It was also hard for her to connect to people outside of her family.

After graduating from military college Hannah immediately went into the Marines. With her perfectionist personality she quickly rose through the ranks.

Though she was well known and respected among her comrades, she did not have many close friends.

At the age of twenty-six Hannah Evens died in action in on the front lines covering her teams retreat.

* * *

The influx of memories that I revived while dreaming left me with an almost constant headache.

Along with needing to be feed and changed I raised hell for my new parents to get their attention to keep me well maintained.

I also had a somewhat hard time identifying the couple taking care of me as my parents. I remembered being a healthy and independent twenty-six year old woman. I also remembered having a fine, but somewhat strict set of parents before these two discombobulated ones.

Though I will admit my new parents really were trying to do their best. Every time I cried one of them came running to see what was wrong.

More often than not, whenever I had a solid dipper it was my new mother that changed me. My father just made noises of discussed and passed me off.

Though I could still not see very well just get I could tell which person was around me because of the strange aura they omitted. My mother felt like that of a fast moving current. Beautiful to look at but deadly to swim in. This was reflected in her ever changing personality.

My father felt like that of electricity. Jumpy and ever moving. Sometimes I also sensed this strange energy in myself. Constantly moving and twisting like a whirlpool.

As time went on my vision became better and I was finally able to see the world around me. Though right now this most was my nursery, the only place my new parents seemed to feel comfortable in taking me.

The walls were a light tan grey color with a beautiful mural of a Cherry blossom tree stretching across the four walls. The far right wall had a wooden and paper made sliding door. The far left wall contained a rather big window that was mostly covered by light tan curtains. Most of the furniture in the room was a dark black color. This included a rocking chair, changing table, book shelf and the crib. The cushions and blankets in my crib were a light pink color and above my crib was a mobile with twirling sea animals. There was a crab, whale, turtle, octopus and a deep blue colored seahorse.

I also finally took the time to examine what my new parents looked like.

My mother was a beautiful woman of slight build. She had a rounded heart shaped face framed by bright wavy wine red hair that went all the way down to her butt. She had fair flawless skin, pale pink pouty lips, a small button nose and dazzling deep green eyes. I was jealous of her shapely hourglass figure and rather large bust. The only creepy part of her bosom was when I had to constantly get up close and personal with it to be breast feed.

My father was a handsome man with a tall lanky build. For his somewhat childish personality he certainly looked all man. He had muscles in all the right places, but they did not stand out too much or give him a body builder's appearance. He too had a fair skin polar and tousled crimson red hair. With a square jaw, roundish face, and deep blue eyes he looked like a male model.

" _I must have some good genes!"_ I pondered. Thinking on the attractiveness of my new parents.

Around the time my vision started to improve, I was also able to stay awake for longer periods of time. To keep entertained I put my mind to work to on starting learn the language spoken around me. Though this was mostly execrated baby talk.

I soon learned that my name was now Kushina. This was not hard to find out with how much my parents cooed my name at me every chance they got.

My mother's name was Kishiko and my father's name was Katsuo. The families' last name was Uzumaki. All these names sounded Japanese in origin but from their appearance it was hard to tell. They did not have the black hair and dark eyes I associated with those of Asian descent.

I so badly wanted to instantly understand the language to listen in on conversations about life to get a clue on where I was born. Mobility would also be rather useful.

My parents did not leave the house with me. The only places I saw were the nursery, kitchen, living room and my father's study.

The nursery was on the second floor and when carried around I could see hallways with doors that led to other rooms. I wanted to explore. Have a change of scenery. Maybe even go outside, get a lay of the land.

To starve off the boredom I settled to slightingly listening to Kishiko when she absently talked to me while cooking in the kitchen. I lay on a fluffy blue blanket decorated with red swirls absently kicking my arms and legs every once and a while.

When Katuso watched me it was usually in his study. I would either be laid out on a blanket on the floor close by or held in his lap while he did work at his desk muttering to himself. This one one of my favorite places because of all the colorful books and scrolls it contained on its shelves.

Slowly but surely from listening to my Kishiko and Katuso's conversations I began to get a grasp of the language.

* * *

I began to practice sitting up in what felt like no time at all. This involved rolling around a lot and grabbing on to things to pull myself into position. I finally accomplished this one day while spending time in the living room with Kishiko relaxing reading a book.

I rolled over to a low side table and slowly pulled myself into a sitting position. In happiness over my accomplishment I began to make excited gurgling noises.

Kishiko from her seat on the couch not far away reading turned to look at me. When seeing me and what I had accomplished, a smile stretched across her face and she squealed happily!

Running over to me she picked me up and brought me into a tight hug. Squishing my face close to hers and nuzzling our faces together she began to talk rapidly in an excited voice.

"Oh my little Kushina-chan is growing up so fast! All ready six months old and you are sitting up on your own!"

"Your daddy is coming back from his mission today. Oh! He will be so excited to hear how big you are getting!"

I only managed to understand every fourth or so word, but I got the gist of what she said. At least Katuso would be home soon.

I had begun to suspect he was involved in the government or law enforcement. Katuso was gone for days at a time and when he returned he smelled of blood and his closes were roughed up.

Anyway, I now had to settle for Kishiko watching me like a hawk for the rest of the day. Maybe she wanted to make sure I did not do anything else without her being there to witness it.

That night at dinner when Katuso came home I was treated to another round of squeals and squishing hugs before I was put to bed.

The next day when Kishiko came in to get me ready for the day I noticed she was paying extra attention on how she dressed me up.

After I was given a bath, dried, my hair brushed and dressed in a deep blue sundress I was sat down in front of a mirror by a gushing Kishiko.

With round chubby cheeks, pale plumb lips, a button nose, long wavy wine red hair and violet eyes. The baby in the mirror was absolutely adorable.

Though I like how the baby in the mirror looked, I was having a freak out moment. Where was the dishwater blonde hair and the sky blue eyes?

Logically I knew that I must look different then how I did before. It was just another thing to actually see it. In shocked wonder I reached out to touch the baby in the mirror and she copied me.

"Don't you look so pretty Kushina-chan!" Kishiko gushed.

"We are all getting dressed up because today kaa-chan and tou-chan are taking you to go see the clan head. Tou-chan's tou-san!"

"You're his first granddaughter and he has been pestering your tou-chan to meet you!"

From what I could gather I was being dressed up to go out and meet other supposed family members.

I was then picked up by Kishiko taken into my parent's room and sat down on the bed while Kishiko joined Katuso in getting ready.

As I sat there observing the two get ready and I also had a look around their room. It was decorated in various shades of blue and purple. The walls a dark blue. The bed was in the middle of the back wall and its spread was a sapphire color and the pillows different shades of purple. Two windows covered by light blue curtains were on either side of the bed. A vanity rested against the far left side of the room. On the right side of the room was a walk in closet with the doors thrown wide open because of Kishiko currently rooting through it. Various pictures of different redheads covered the walls and surfaces of the room.

Finished with my observation of the room I then let myself be drawn into my thoughts about my feeling on meeting some of my new extended family.

I was split in two about my feelings. On one hand it sounded nice to finally get out and interact with new people. On the other hand this was another step on accepting that Hannah Evens was dead and could not see her family anymore.

It was Kushina Uzumaki's time to shine. This was her life. Her family. But what was I supposed to do with all of my memories of Hannah Evens. Her personality made up a lot of who I was right now.

The only thing I could try to do was look at the situation with an open mind. To be open as possible to the connections and bonds that could be formed by this new family that seemed ready to love me.

I had many good memories as Hannah Evens but even her life had its short comings. Her family was very strict and with their busy schedules did not spend a lot of time together.

Kishiko seemed to be a loving stay at home mother and Katuso might be gone for days at a time but when he returned he made time to spend with his family.

I was going to try and reinvent myself. Let Kushina's personality have a chance to develop without Hannah's neurotic and perfectionists tendencies getting in the way of a little girl enjoying her child hood.

My thoughts were interrupted by a poke to my forehead. It was my father.

"What has you thinking so hard Kushina-chan" he asked.

"If you keep frowning like that you will develop frown lines way too early Dettekina."

Katuso then picked me up in his arms and started walking down stairs to the front door.

"Ready to see Uzushiogakure Kushina-chan?" My mother said in a cheery tone.

Then she opened the door and I got my first glance of the outside world.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **[1.] "Hush now my little Kushina-chan there is no need to cry!"**

 **[2.] "I am your mother Kishiko and it is so nice to finally meet you!"**

 **[3.] "And I am your father Katsuo! Dettekina"**

 **[4.] "Hey, back up Katsup-kun! Your scaring little Kushina-chan!"**

 **[5.] "So mean, Kishiko-chan! I just wanted to introduce myself to our daughter."**

 **[6.] "I know you're excited! I am too. She is our first child. Our little baby girl!"**

 **[7.] "Don't worry Kushina-chan. Your papa and I might be new at this, but we love you very much and are going to try to do our best with you."**

 **[8.] "That is a promise! Dettekina!"**

 **(I hope I did ok with these translations. I do not speak a lick of Japanese and used google translate, but as you know even they are not that reliable. Anyway, once Kushina learns the language I do not plan to use any more Japanese other than that used for greetings and honorifics.)**

 **I don't know what possessed me to write this, but the idea just can to me and I could not stop writing. Anyway, I am a new writer just putting out one of my first stories. Hope you like what I have so far. This story is in the really early developmental stages and it might take a while before I get a new chapter up, but I just really wanted to try my hand at writing a Kushina SI story!**

 **Reviews about what you think of my story so far or offering constructive criticism on areas to improve are appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with the Naruto franchise** **Masashi Kishimoto does.**

"Normal Talking"

" _Thoughts and Flashbacks"_

" **Summon talking/ Bijuu talking** "

 **Wild Whirlpool Child**

 **Chapter 2**

Nestled in my father's arms I craned my neck this way and that trying to see everything around me as we left the house and headed down the street.

The air was warm and pleasant with a slight breeze. Everywhere I looked was green. Green grass covered rolling hills and palm trees grew everywhere covered in moss. Blue sky with drifting tuffs of white clouds. The weather and atmosphere was very relaxing. There was even a hint of salty sea on the air.

The buildings were made out of a strange orange clay and shaped in either a dome or square like structure. Surprisingly some were as tall as six or seven floors high.

As our family of three made our way down the smooth dirt path further into the city the taller the buildings get and more people began to cross our path.

Most people in the growing crowd were red heads. Though there were various shades of browns, blondes, and blacks thrown into the mix.

Every building was decorated with either a carving, banner, flag or painting of a red swirl. It matched the swirl design on the head band my father constantly wore on his forehead.

I also noticed that Katuso was not the only one who wore a headband with the strange swirl symbol. Many of the red heads in the gathering crowd men, women and children also had the metal headband

Our journey soon took us through a marketplace. Stalls and venders lined the street. Colorful banners with the swirl symbol were hung from columns and buildings all around.

"Quite a beautiful place. Right, Kushina-chan!" My father asked me in response to my constantly revolving head, straining to take everything in.

He moved me around in his arms till I rested against his hip so that I could see better.

"You live on the beautiful tropical island of Uzushiogakure. Home to the Uzumaki clan." He explained with pride evident in his voice.

Though I did not understand everything he said to me I tried cataloging the words for later. The tone in which they were spoken in seemed important.

The closer we got to the center of the city the busier the streets become. The mind blogging thing that I also began to see was that there were people jumping on the roofs.

These roof jumpers moved at various speeds. Jumping from roof top to roof top. Jumping into windows or down to the ground when they reached their destinations. No care for the height in which they were jumping from. In fact these jumpers just landed gracefully in crouches like cats unharmed from their descents.

I was instantly intrigued. Tugging on my father's dark grey vest I nodded in the direction of these mystifying people to catch his attention.

"Caught your attention did they? Those are ninja Kushina-chan. The protectors of our clan." He explained.

"Just like your tou-chan. Dettekina!"

The word that stood out the most in his sentence was the word ninja. Ninja, black clad assassins that snuck around in the night killing people.

These strange people that I observed preforming impossible feats that defied gravity did not fit the picture.

Continuing thoughts on ninja would have to be saved for later. We appeared to have reached our destination. A large dome shaped five floored building with the red swirl design painted in the center.

Entering the building we were greeted with many bustling red heads moving this way and that. There were desks, offices, and tables everywhere with people constantly going in and out passing off different scrolls and papers.

As we passed through the lobby random people would stop and bow to my parents murmuring

"Katuso-sama"

"Kishiko-sama"

As they went by.

Up we went to the top floor. The top floor was the round dome part of the building. The lower part walls was one large glass window allowing one to see the whole island from the high vintage point. The blue sea was even visible in the distance. The floor was hardwood and in the center room was small circular tan carpet with a couple of chairs, a low table, and a couch for sitting. To far the left wall was covered with bookcases filled with hundreds of books and scrolls. To the far back of the room, right near the window was a desk piled high with stacks of paper.

My mother and father filled into the room and walked over to the desk. Once there the lined up side by side. My father better adjusted my position on his hip.

"Chichi, are you really that caught up in your work that you don't have time to greet your visiting family?" Katuso called out.

Suddenly a head popped out from the far right side of the paper stacks.

"Katuso my boy. Is that you? About time you decided to bring your family to visit your old man." The new person exclaimed.

"Maybe I just wanted a little time to enjoy my first child with my wife." Father grumbled.

The new person comes out fully from behind the desk and I catch a glimpse of him for the first time.

An older man in his late fifties with long dull red hair and a rather bushy beard. He was dressed in a long white robe decorated with black swirly designs with the swirl design headband on his forehead.

"Is this my adorable granddaughter?" he asked as he walked swiftly towards my parents and promptly snatched me out my father's arms.

I whimpered at the sudden movement and change of arms to a person I did not know.

Hey! Careful jiji, that's my daughter you're manhandling!" my father squawked.

"Relax Katuso, I raised three children. I think I know what I am doing." The old man said huffing indignantly.

"Yeah, I'm still questioning that with how Kana, Ren and I turned out chichi." Father replied.

"Hey, you three turned out pretty well. A little temperamental and you all developed that weird verbal tick, but still you all turned out fine!" The old man fired back.

"Please Yuudai-sama, could you be a little more watchful when handling Kushina-chan?" My mother interrupted the two men's escalating argument.

"Your right Kishiko-chan! What a reasonable woman you are. That is why she is my favorite daughter-in law." The old man sniped one last time in my father's direction.

Holding me up by my armpits, the old man lifted me into view of his face.

"She will be a real looker when she grows up." The old man said softly after looking at me for a couple seconds.

"She has your hair Kishiko and you're mostly present in her features Katuso. But she has a beautiful combination of both of your eyes." He continued.

Walking over to the sitting area in the center of the room he sat down on the couch and arranged me on his lap. Mother and father joined him on close by chairs.

"Hello Kushina. I am your grandfather Yuudai, but to you I am just jiji my precious granddaughter." He murmured.

Keeping his eyes on me in his lap the old man began to converse with mother and father.

"How are you two settling in?" Yuudai asked.

"Really well surprisingly! Kushina-chan is a somewhat low maintenance baby. In the beginning though she really raised hell for us." Kishiko replied.

"She seems really aware for a child her age." He commented.

"Yes, we both noticed that somewhat early on." Katuso answered.

"Sometimes I wonder if she can already understand us because she is already reacting to some of the things we say." Kishiko finished.

"Such a smart girl. She will do us all proud!" Yuudai said proudly.

Then he looked up at my parents and said seriously

"Now onto more important matters. You two getting back to work."

At this both of my parents sat straighter in their seats.

"The Second Shinobi War is getting closer to our door step every day and I need every able body shinobi I have available to do their part." He stated fiercely.

"I hate to ask you too to return to the front lines, but if I am not will to ask this of my family how can I ask this of the rest of my clan's men?" He said in a serious tone.

"We understand Yuudai-sama!" My parent's chorused.

Tears of frustration burned my eyes as I sensed the tense atmosphere but could not entirely understand what was going on.

Seeing my tears the adults all gave tight smiles.

"What should we do about Kushina? Do you have a plan as to who would watch her?" my mother asked.

"I would like to be in charge of watching her. Ever sense my wife passed away and all you kids moved out to start lives of your own I have felt a little lonely." Yuudai answered.

"Besides, I only plan to have you two gone for a couple day or so at a time." He continued.

I was then switched over into my mother's arms.

"Thank You Yuudai-sama! We should get going. Kushina-chan needs her rest and it is getting late." My mother said respectfully.

"Goodbye Yuudai-sama!" My parent's both chorused with slight bows in jiji's direction and left.

* * *

From the original meeting with jiji I was now being left with him almost every day. I figured that Kishiko and Katuso had to return to work, but why were they leaving me with jiji? He always seemed really busy with paperwork or meetings.

Strangely enough, even though he was obviously very busy running a village jiji always made time for me.

Whether was it arranging me on his lap while he worked at his desk or talking absently talking to me while sorting through the constantly growing piles of paper work.

The only time I left his arms was when he had meetings. Then I was left on the floor on a blanket surrounded by different toys.

Constantly being around people speaking the current language really helped improve my understanding. Now I just had to finish growing in my teeth and start trying to speak.

I even had to spend my first birthday with jiji. Apparently there was a war going on outside the island borders and because of this mother and father were away more often in the war effort. Though jiji still made the day special.

My parent had been away for the past couple of days and I had been staying with jiji in his apartment in the village main tower where his office was for the past couple of days.

Taking the morning of July 10th off from work he took me through town and down to the beach for the morning.

Both of us sat on a blanket on the sand enjoying the weather. We had a mid-morning snack that he had packed and a cupcake each.

In reward for a thoughtful birthday treat I reworded grandfather with my first word "jiji".

The smile that graced his face for the first time in a while at being the source of my first word was rewording.

Sadly, after our snack it was back to the office.

With my growing grasp on the language I started to learn more about the world around me from the conversations I listened into while hanging around my grandfather.

A nation run by a ninja system. A system mostly paid for by clients (mostly nobles) in which they were basically mercenaries for hire. Fighting wars, going into battle, protecting clients, and assassinating those they were pointed at. Ninja's completed these tasks with numerous abilities gifted to them by utilizing the energy inside of them called charka.

The reason my grandfather was so busy and my parents had to be away a lot was because there was a war going on The Second Shinobi War.

My mother was a sword export and my father a top strategist and both were needed almost constantly on the front lines. My grandfather was the Uzumaki Clan head. He was in charge of the whole island which was home to roughly around 600 or so Uzumaki Clan members. This meant he had to organize and watch over 600 people.

I learned all this and more with my meager speaking skills by constantly asking jiji, mother, father, and grandfather's advisers the question "why"?

When listening in on their conversations about what was going on I would sometimes interrupt asking them "why" in order for them to further explain certain things. If they were not too busy they would sometimes take the time to answer.

This only got worse when I learned to crawl and would drag different books, scrolls and papers over to the nearest adult and demand them to read it to me.

This was a ploy to get information, learn more words and to start familiarizing myself with the written language.

Sadly I was not too subtle in my advances. The next time my parent were at home I overheard them talking about me and my mature mindset late one night in the living room. I listened in from a hole in my room from above while lying in my bed close by.

"In some ways she is extremely mature for her age. There is this spark of intelligence in her eyes." My father said in a contemplative tone.

"Yes, but in other ways she is somewhat far behind developmentally." My mother replied worriedly.

"While I believe her language skills are advanced for her age. She should be walking by now or at least show signs of attempting to walk." She continued.

"Plus we haven't spent much time with her in the past couple of months. Now I know we can't help it that much, but the least we could do is set Kushina-chan up on playdates with children her own age." Mother plowed on.

"I will try and get in contact with Kana and Ren to see if they would not mind setting up a playdate for Kushina with some of her cousins." My father suggested.

"Yes. That is a good idea." Mother answered.

After a bit of a stretched silence the conversation started back up again.

"Are we bad parents for not being able to spend a lot of time with our daughter? Especially at such an early stage in her development?" My mother said in a quiet voice.

"I just really wanted a child of my own, but maybe this is not the best time to bring a baby into the world." She said in a chocked whisper.

"Don't say that Kishiko-chan! Yes this might not have been the best time to start a family, but I am glad we did! I would not trade Kushina-chan for the world. She is here and all we can do is to try our best for her! Dettekina!" My father replied in determined tone.

"Thank you Katuso-kun! You always did know how to pick me up!" My mother said in a slightly more cheerful tone then before.

They continued to talk into the night about both me and other little things going on in their lives. I soon drifted off to sleep replaying the part of the conversation I heard in my head.

* * *

Sense the night of my parents late night discussion I had been making an effort to try and make progress in the learning to walk department.

I theorized that what was throwing me off were the memories from before. I had memories on how to walk, but not on how to learn the action. I was depending too much on these memories to tell me how to do things.

I was gifted with a sharp mind, amazing memory and a certain awareness on account of having my memories of my past life present sense birth.

The down side of the extra memories was that they sometimes hindered me from growing up on the normal developmental scale. Memories of how to walk, run, and talk in another language confused the young mind that should have had a chance to make these memories on its own with its current environment.

The only solution that worked in picking up walking and talking faster was too push the memories of before to the back of my mind and let instincts guide me in what to do.

By the end of the week I was toddling around. Somewhat unsteadily, but still I was walking.

When I had finally pulled myself up into a standing position and took my first steps my parents were enthusiastic! My father had immediately put himself in my line of site a few feet away and began to coo encouraging words to me with the added effect of making come hither motions as well. When I pushed myself off the couch, which I had been using as a support, and unsteadily too him he meet me with open arms.

On my way to my father's arms I distantly heard the sound of a camera going off numerous times.

When I finally finished my first steps and reached my father's arms I was picked up and spun around. My mother joined in the mini celebration with her own words of praise and with a camera that she used to capture the moment.

This was a memory that I really tried to savor. A time when we were all together and happy.

* * *

My second birthday went a little bit better than my first. I think my parents guilty conscious on not being able to celebrate my first birthday with me caused them to go a little overboard on my second one.

When I woke up the morning of July 10 it was to both of my parents singing me happy birthday.

After rousing me from my slumber my mother went about reading me for the day while my father left the room.

For breakfast the whole family sat on cushions around the low table and ate rice balls decorated with different fruits. One of my favorite foods so far.

After breakfast my mother took me out to the back yard and set up a blanket for us to sit on. For the next hour or so we just hung out and enjoyed the sunny day.

She laid out on the blanket with a scroll occasionally glancing between the writing, what she was jotting down on a separate piece of paper with a paint brush and keeping an eye on me.

I spent the time tottering around the yard investigating everything I came across.

We had a big yard that was in the shape of a square. Near the back door was a low hanging tree that provided plenty of shade. A couple of feet to the side of that was a stone bench next to a coy fish pond. The rest of the yard was plain grass with a gravel path leading to the back of the yard.

The back of the yard was set up like some sort of training area scattered with different wooden posts. Some of the posts had targets painted on them and others had diagrams of the human body.

Little me entertained herself by finding different outdoor items to show my mother such as different flowers and bugs and having her say their names for me.

Every once in a while there would be a crash from the house followed by the sound of tou-chan's voice yelling angrily.

Every time this happened kaa-chan shot a glare in the direction of the house and mumbled under her breath in a frustrated tone.

" _What is he doing in there?"_ I wondered.

" _This must be the reason kaa-chan and I are hanging outside in the yard for the morning. Maybe it has something to do with my birthday?"_ I contemplated.

It was getting later in the day and I was getting hungry so I made my way over to where my mother sat.

"Kaa-chan, when we gonna eat? I'm hungry!" I wined.

"Just give me a second Kushina-chan to check something out." she replied.

Kaa-chan got up off the blanket, dusted herself off and went to the backdoor to poke her head in the house.

Then she started a whispered conversation with what sounded like tou-chan.

Kaa-chan then turned around to face me with a big smile across her face. She quickly walked back over to the tree and picked up her blanket and supplies. Then she gestured me over to her as she walked back over to our house.

Before we entered the house kaa-chan took my hand then she led me inside. As the door closed behind us we were met with complete darkness.

Suddenly the lights turned on and a bunch of red heads jumped out yelling "Surprise"!

Startled by a combination of the sudden noise and being surrounded by a bunch of new people I gave a sudden cry and huddled behind by mother's legs.

"Oh what adorable little thing!" A woman's voice squealed.

"My daughter is not a thing Kana!" My father grumbled.

"Oh be quiet Katuso, I just want to see my only nice." The woman replied cheerfully.

"Come on out little Kushina-chan we want to see our little nice." An energetic male's voice chimed in.

"All of your yelling has really surprised Kushina-chan, let her calm down and then come out." Came the familiar voice of jiji.

My mother's hand rested on my head and coached me out from behind her. When I was standing tentatively by her side with one of her hands clutched in mine she began to introduce me around.

There was a young couple that my mother introduced as my uncle Kiyoshi and aunt Kana. Kana was my father's younger sister and the middle child of the three. They had two sons Akira and Raiden who were twins.

There was also my uncle Ren and his wife Miyu. Ren was also from my father's side of the family. He was my father's youngest sibling. They were recently married but had no children.

Then there was my uncle Minori and aunt Kokona. Kokona was my mother's only sibling and older sister. They had three sons Tadao, Koji, and Gin.

The only grandparent that I had that was still living was Yuudai. My father's father and the current clan head.

All these family members were a mass of bright colors, mostly red from their hair.

Chatter continued to flow about the room as I was introduced different family members. Inbetween introductions I took in the newly decorated living room.

Light pink, blue, purple and green steamers hung for the ceiling. Balloons and confetti in the same colors littered different surfaces of the room such as tables and chairs. On the long dining room table a wide variety of foods laid out for everyone to enjoy.

After introductions everyone sat down to eat because it was around lunch time. Chatter soon filled the air with loud boisterous laughter mixed in.

At first I was hesitant to join in, still unsure of the new family dynamics with so many new people present.

Curiosity won out and I hesitantly began to ask questions of different family members.

Still nervous about the new family members I stuck to question aimed at getting to know everyone.

Because of my questions the table talk soon turned to that of funny childhood stories both before and during everyone's ninja careers.

Despite being the clan heirs, my father and his siblings were quite rowdy growing up. Playing pranks to get their busy father's attention.

My mother and her older sister were the children of one of jiji's advisers that were orphaned not long after the First Shinobi war. They grew up around the three siblings with my mother eventually marrying the clan heads oldest son, my father.

Suddenly my mother interrupted the current conversation my cousins had started about their latest prank.

"Now before we get into desert and have your birthday cake there is a family tradition you must partake in Kushina-chan." She said with a mischievous smile on her face as she headed to the kitchen with her sister at her heals.

The conversations around the table stopped and everyone turned to look at me with excited smiles on their faces. I blushed crimson at the sudden attention.

My mother came out of the kitchen holding a huge steaming cooking pot with my aunt Kokona behind her carrying a tower of soup bowls.

"This is a special family recipe that has been passed down for generations." My mother said in an excited tone.

She sat the huge pot down on table and with my aunts help began to make out big servings for everyone present. Once everyone including me had a bowl my mother continued her explanation.

"It is our Uzumaki family tradition to have the newest family member have their first taste of the food of the gods around their second birthday when they can eat by themselves." She stated excitedly.

Everyone leaned forward in my direction with expectant looks on their faces.

"Come on Kushina-chan! Try it!" One of my cousins called out.

"Try it! Try it! Try it!" Everyone was soon chanting.

I fumbled a bit with the chopsticks and brought the bowl closer to my face to get a closer look at what I was about to eat. It was a bowl of ramen.

" _This shouldn't be so bad."_ I thought to myself.

Clumsily bring a mouthful of the noodles to my lips I slurped it up. My eyes winded as the flavor hit my tongue, a salty chicken flavor. The noodles slip down my throat then settled in my stomach.

"Whoa! This is the food of the gods!" I said in a reverent tone in agreement to my mother's earlier statement with wide eyes.

Everyone at the table cheered.

"That's my girl!" My father exclaimed!

"A true Uzumaki can't resist the taste of ramen no matter the flavor!" My uncle Ren laughed!

"Ok everyone now that we have established where Kushina-chan stands on the issue lets dig in!" Jiji called out to the family.

Mother, father, jiji, my aunts, uncles and cousins dug into their portions of ramen with gusto. When someone finished their bowl they immediately went for another till the cooking pot was empty.

"What is this?" I asked my mother after I had finished my last helping.

"This is an old family recipe from your father's side of the family. Because I grew up around your father's family his mother taught it to me to help ensnare your father's heart. Your grandmother always told me that the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach." She recounted fondly.

"She told me this was how she ensnared your jiji's heart. It is a strange tradition from her family that has worked for ages. This ramen is called the man catcher because it helps the woman of the family catch their destined man. I hope to one day pass the recipe onto you in hopes that it will give you the same luck." She continued.

I nodded absently along as I digested her words.

After cleaning up the dirty dishes mother brought out the cake. It was a white frosted cake with a red trim. There were multiple colored sprinkles all over the cake with red frosting roses and the words Happy Birthday Kushina was written in blue frosting.

After singing to me everyone let off streamer poppers at the end of the song as I blew out the two candles on the cake. I blushed and giggled at the attention. My father flittered around the table snapping pictures with the chunky family camera.

When everyone finally finished eating in was late evening so my parent suggested that I open my presents.

From my parents I received a circular shaped locket with the Uzumaki clan symbol on the front. Inside was a picture of the three of us. I smiled happily at them for the sweet gift and had my mother help me put it on right away.

From my uncle Kiyoshi, aunt Kana and the twins I received a set of wooden kunai and shuriken.

"We'll make sure that you know how to use them and eventually the real things!" The twins promised.

From my uncle Ren and aunt Miyu I received a package that contained set of work out outfits. The outfit set was a mesh shirt, a light yellow form fitting short dress with a green sash, black skin tight shorts made from flexible fabric and brown open toed shoes.

"We are that cool gift givers!" Uncle Ren bragged after I open the present.

From uncle Minori, aunt Kokona and their kids I received a fully functioning first aid kit.

"For all the bumps, bruises, cuts and scrapes you are bound to start accumulating soon with training." Aunt Kokona said wisely.

From my jiji I received a paint brush and ink set along with a couple of blank scrolls.

"Because I expect that you will be starting you training in the proud art fuinjutsu soon." He explained.

I thanked jiji with a quick hug and a kiss to the cheek.

After I had finished opening all my presents I stood up and faced my family. In a burst of both gratitude and nerves I blurted out "Thank you so much for coming and for the presents everyone dattebane!"

After saying that I covered my mouth with both my hands in embarrassment.

Everyone laughed good naturally.

"She has your verbal tick Katuso!" Aunt Kana laughed.

"This is a sign that she is going to be just as high maintenance as you are Katuso." Jiji signed.

"Hey! This is a cool thing! Kushina-chan is taking after her old man!" My father exclaimed.

'Yeah, only you would think that!" Uncle Ren laughed.

"I think it's cute!" My mother said as she walked over to me to give me a hug to shock me out of my supper.

"I have a verbal tick?" I asked slash pouted finally taking my hands away from my mouth.

"Apparently so." My mother signed.

"Your father started it all. During the years we were dating. Apparently the whole thing caused him anxiety." She laughed quietly shooting a small smile in my father's direction.

"Anyway, say good bye and thank you to everyone. It's time to start cleaning up for the night." My mother stated while standing up and heading towards the living room table to start cleaning up.

So I joined my father in escorting everyone out with hugs and handshakes.

After the last person left my dad picked me up in his arms and headed up stairs to my room. Sense I was growing pretty tired he had to guide me through getting ready for bed.

After I was all tucked in he turned out the lights and whispered one last good night as he closed the door.

* * *

That night after my tiring birthday when I went to bed I had the strangest dream.

I was floating in a dark void. Mirrors floated around me showing scenes from my short two years of life.

I was dressed in a simple white night gown and my growing long red hair danced around me in a nonexistent wind.

My little two year old self looked this way and that taking in the strange place I found myself in.

All of a sudden a woman appeared before me.

She was dressed in a bulky camouflage uniform with a matching strap on helmet with bits of blonde hair peaking out.

"Who are you?' I asked.

"Come on. Don't tell me that you don't recognize me? At least on some instinctual level." The woman replied.

"Hannah!" I exclaimed in an excited voice.

"Hey kido, long time no see!" she said with a small smile.

"Where are we and what are you doing here?" I asked in a curious tone while casting on last quick glance around.

"We are in your mind." Hannah replied.

"That is also why we can both understand each other. Because the mind is universal so there really is no need for language. Just another one of the world's mysteries." She continued.

"Cool! I think?" I said giving Hannah a confused look.

"Now on to the real conversation." She said in a more serious tone.

I straightened my stance subconsciously at her new tone and focused in on Hannah instead of observing my strange soundings.

"In the past year or so I have been studying our mind to try and find out a reason to why I am still here. I mean I don't know the protocols for what happens when someone dies, but pretty sure one is not supposed to have their past life personality awake in their head." She stated.

"How is all this a bad thing?" I asked. Confused because she sounded mad about still being alive.

"Are you mad that you did not get to pass on?" I continued.

Hannah gave me a sad smile then sighed.

"I'm not mad. I have long ago recognized that what I am feeling is sadness and melancholy. Though it was not perfect I miss the life I had. Though your parents and family members seem amazing so far, I miss the family members that I knew." Hannah said.

"It's also not all that bad that I have wakened in you. Because of my more grown consciousness you have always been more aware then a child your age normally is. The down side is that my conscious is sometime in danger of overwhelming yours." She continued in a serious tone.

"What does that mean?" I asked in a quiet voice not liking what she was saying.

"Because so far I have the more developed conscious I am sometime in danger of over taking your younger one. I realized this not long after we were born and tried to pull back. Sadly I was too late and some of the aspects of my personality remained ingrain in you." She answered.

"Now I think I understand some of what you saying, but what do you plan to do in the long run? Will you continue to pull away because I sometimes feel the loss when you do?" I said in my best big girl voice.

"I don't think we will ever truly be able to separate because in some we are the same soul just split in a weird way. What I consider to be the healthy option is that I sleep in your mind only waking when necessary. This will allow us to blend slowly letting you have a chance to develop your own personality on your own." She replied.

"Don't I get a say in this! I know I might be young, but this is my soul too!" I yelled angrily.

"Please Kushina, let me handle this. You are going to have a tough life ahead of you with the fate of the world revolving around the choices you make." Hannah said in a pleading voice.

"What?" I breathed in a shocked whisper.

"Surely you have noticed the difference from the memories of my life of the world I was born in compared to yours." She said in a calming tone trying to diffuse the rising tension.

"I guess I didn't really think on them too much, I mainly absorbed the knowledge you had on things such as math, science, psychology, human behavior and a bit on your time in the military before you hid them." I answered in a more relaxed voice.

"It's probably a good thing that you did not go too far into my memories. There are some things that you are not ready to see yet." She said in relief in response to my answer.

"What did you mean about the fate of the world revolving around me?" I asked tensely.

Hannah gave a grimace. This was obviously something that she hope I would not mention.

"Can't we just forget somethings stupid things that I blurt out in anger?" She asked in a falsely hopeful tone.

I gave her my best glare. Though I think it looked more like a pout on my chubby round two year old face.

Hannah let out a loud sighed.

"Now what I will about to tell you will only be a very bare minimum because I don't want you to doubt your existence." She said before taking a deep breath and continuing on.

"Where I came from your whole world was well the best way to describe it is a just a story. A somewhat popular fictional story. Not long after we were born I put the pieces together and it freaked me out. That was another reason I took a step back, because I was in a lot of denial. I questioned if anything was real. What was a deciding factor on if anything was real or not was you. Everything about you just seemed too real to be fake especially your emotions." She said rushing to get her explanation out.

Tears of frustration and confusion began to leak out of my eyes. In a wavering voice I asked "Then is my life all planned out, how does one handle having the world depending on them?"

"No, we chose our own destinies, plus not everything in the story was all about death. There was life, love, happiness, family and friendship. Yes, this did come with a big dose of lose, sadness, betrayal, distrust and backstabbing. But this is life. There are ups and down, you just have to get through it all with the ones you love." She said soothingly.

I gave Hannah a watery half smile in return.

"For now just go with the flow, learn what you can but still enjoy as many moments you can." She said as she came forward and ruffled my hair.

"Now I believe it's time you get some real sleep. By the way Happy Birthday Kushina!" Hannah said as everything faded to black and I slipped into a deep unconsciousness.

* * *

 **Another chapter done! It will be about another chapter or two before Kushina moves to Konoha. In the next chapter or so I plan to show how Kushina activated her** **Adamantine Sealing Chains** **, was found to have special charka and sent off to Konoha. See things will soon start to really pick up! Promise!**

 **Also I want to send a big Thank You to all the people who favorited, followed, and reviewed my story. For my first publication this was all more that I could ask/hope for! So far the feedback has all been positive! Fingers Crossed! I figure I can only get better with time.**

 **Lastly, I want to try and update at least once a week if I have the time, but it will probably be every two weeks though. Job, schooling and family functions might sometimes get in the way. Though I am planning on making this a long story that might even go into the fourth shinobi war with its own twists on the original Naruto storyline. But I am also planning on writing a few more stories on the side of this one. So, yeah! Busy, busy, busy!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with the Naruto franchise** **Masashi Kishimoto does.**

"Normal Talking"

" _Thoughts and Flashbacks"_

" **Summon talking/ Bijuu talking** "

 **Wild Whirlpool Child**

 **Chapter 3**

As time went on and I grew older I noticed that Hannah was pulling away more and more. Letting me, the younger personality make the decisions.

Memories of war, death and another family faded to the back of my mind.

I noticed that because of this my personality was slowly becoming a little bit more childish and I seemed to give into my impulses more easily.

Instead of mostly preferring the company of the adults in my life, I soon more often than not found myself not minding spending time with my cousins.

To the amusement of my parents I fell in line with my older cousins Akira, Raiden and Gin and their pranking ways. Being about two years or so older than me they were closer to my age, but had already started their training in the Uzumaki art of fuinjutsu. An amazing art that used ink to draw different symbols and designs that could potential do just about anything.

Still in the beginning stages of study my cousins mostly used their knowledge for pranking and other childish fun.

Using storage seals to store things such as confetti, water, or flour and setting the seals to release when someone walked by drenching them in the substance of choice were just a few of their favorite uses of seals.

Whenever we could we bothered Tadao and Koji, our older cousins who were already ninja, for higher grade seals. The ones that blew stuff up were the funniest to use for pranks.

We once set up the explosive tags around the village and at once release them to explode multi-colored paints all over different homes and buildings. Sadly Tadao and Koji tattled on us and we then had to spend the next week scrubbing all the paint away.

The downer was that because I was the youngest among my cousins they developed some weird protective instincts towards me and would not let me handle any of the sealing tags yet. I was mostly used as the distraction for when they set their pranks up or as the look out. Still I appreciated that they let me tag along at all and tried to include me.

I was also the only girl in the family so far. An only child and the only female born in my generation. It was sometimes tough. Though my mother and aunts liked to do girly things with me such as dress up.

My mother and aunts loved to buy me girly accessories and dress me up in them. Fifteen minutes later I could be found in the same outfit all covered in dirt and rips. Thankful after a months of this they stopped trying and the only time I was forced into a dress was for special occasion.

When not pranking my cousins and I were running about Uzushiogakure getting into all kinds of trouble.

We explored the tropical forests on the island finding different hideaways. There were numerous waterfalls and natural caves scattered about the island that we were determined to find and explore. Sadly we could only do this when our parents were too busy to watch us, otherwise they would probably throw a fit over the numerous dangerous situations we put ourselves in to find these waterfalls and caves.

When under the eyes of different adult supervision Akira, Raiden, Gin and I spent our time either wondering the market places or playing on one of the islands numerous ports and beaches.

Either way life was pretty great.

* * *

It wasn't till after my third birthday that my parents sat me down to have a discussion on maybe starting my own ninja training.

My parents sat me down one day in the living room and began to explain the life of a ninja to me.

It was a long discussion that included an overview on the strange energy that everyone possessed called chakra and some of the many different uses ninja had found to utilize it for.

"Ninja are the protectors of their people." My mother explained in a serious tone.

"Sometimes they even have to do some dark things to keep others safe." She continued.

"I won't lie to you Kushina-chan, being a ninja is going to be tough. In some ways it will become your very way of life. If you choose this path practically everything in your life will revolved around that of your career of being a ninja." She lectured.

"With long amounts of training and dedication you will be gifted with amazing abilities. The dark side is that you will be asked to put your life at risk practically daily to protect your precious people by injuring and sometimes killing those that wish them harm." Mother said.

"While we will be beginning your teaching in academics now we do want you to start thing about if you want to be a ninja. While the majority of Uzumaki clan members are ninja there are still plenty of other careers you could follow." My father continued on in place of my mother.

"Many Uzumaki have used sealing to become medics, smiths, and scribes. If you don't even want to follow that root you still have the option of becoming a fisherman, farmer, trader, craftswoman and many more civilian type careers. But the reasons you need to decide soon is because if you want to be a ninja the sooner you start training the better." He explained.

"Please take the rest of the week, month even to decide. What we will be starting by the end of the week is your schooling." Kaa-chan took over.

"While there is a primary school on the island that children can attend to receive an education in subjects such as reading, writing, etiquette, mathematics, science and history. Further education on clan business, the ninja system, ninja tetchiness and history has to be taught by the family or private tutors." Kaa-chan explained.

"If you decide to train to become a ninja, when you have reached a set standard you go to the main building on a certain date to pass a series of tests to become a genin. If you pass you receive an Uzushioakure hitai-ate and are placed on a three man cell with a sensei. Your sensei will be your main teacher and trainer on your path to becoming a stronger ninja." Kaa-chan finished.

"So for this upcoming month please think seriously about what you want to be in life." My father said finishing our talk on a serious note.

That night I lay in bed just going over my thoughts.

" _Do I really want to be a ninja?"_ I asked myself.

" _Do I want to involve myself in a life that has a low mortality rate and will involve taking lives regularly?"_

The action, adventure, adrenaline, abilities, power and infinite possibilities intrigued me to no end. But even I knew that these were not the healthiest of reasons to get involved in that kind of life.

I then thought back to a specific line my mother said during the discussion.

"Protect your precious people." I said out loud.

Kaa-chan, tou-chan, jiji and all the other relatives that I had were all of course very important to me.

From the continuous conversions I was constantly overhearing there was a war going on, plus everyday life was dangerous enough. With my parents, aunts and uncles on a constant rotation on who was fighting on the front lines is seemed only a matter of time till one of them got seriously hurt or killed.

" _But could one person really make a difference? If I became a ninja would I really change anything other than add to the death count?"_ I questioned myself.

My thoughts were drawn back to the dream I had of Hannah a while ago and her words that my choices would one day help decide the fate of the world.

" _Is becoming a ninja one of these choices?"_ I wondered.

" _Do I have what it takes?"_ I questioned with a sighed while rolling over in bed to face the wall.

Though I was not able to understand everything depicted in Hannah's memories I did know that she had been in a career similar to that of being a ninja.

" _She was able to do it and even seemed to enjoy it to an extent. Also Hannah technically is me."_ I reasoned to myself.

As I though more about Hannah and tried to focus in on her memories of training, fighting, killing and watching comrades die a certain type of awareness crept into my mind.

An awareness that had previously been slowly leeching out of my consciousness before rushed forth.

Hannah mentioned that I had a huge destiny hanging over my head. That my choices were going to shape the world.

If that was so, I want to be as capable as possible in making these decision with the right frame of mind and body to back me up.

"I am going to become the best ninja I can be!" I said out loud finalizing my decision.

Not only will this will this help me protect my family and home but also help further state my curiosity. I would be lying if I said I did not want to learn all about the cool ninja moves.

Just before I fell asleep Hannah's voice whispered through my head "The path starts to unveil itself, your journey has begun. Good luck! You are going to need it."

The next morning at breakfast I cleared my throat after both my parents sat down to eat. Both of them turned their eyes towards me.

"Kaa-chan, tou-chan I want to become a ninja dattebane!" I said in a rushed voice.

They traded looks with each other before turning to stare seriously at me once more.

"Are you positive of your decision Kushina-chan?" My father asked.

"We only told you about all of this last night. You don't have to make your choice so soon." My mother said.

"Trust me. I really thought long and hard about this well into the night, I'm sure about this." I said in my most serious tone of voice.

"Ok then, but what helped you make your decision? Why do you want to be a ninja?" My father questioned.

"Well for one, it is part of my heritage and I would love to further embrace that. Another thing is the life sounds like an adventurous life. Most importantly this would give me the knowledge and ability to help protect my family and home." I said.

The room was quiet for about a minute or so as my parents looked at me carefully.

"I could not have put that better myself! You'll officially start training after you start school." My father said with a faint smile on his face.

"Your father and I will be the ones that mostly oversee your ninja training, but your grandfather might take over while we are out on missions. But for now you are not allowed to practice the things we show you on your own. Understand?" My mother said.

"Yes!' I said.

"Good! Now eat up. All this serious talking has distracted us from breakfast." Kaa-chan said with a smile.

Father and I joined mother in calmly eating breakfast.

* * *

The following Monday after my talk with my parents about my education and future I was being lead through the village by my mother in the early morning to my first day of school.

I was dressed in the mesh shirt covered by a light yellow just above knee length kimono. A dark green sash was tied around my waist and stretch cotton shorts peaked out of the bottom of the kimono. On my feet I wore brown open toed shoes. It was the outfit my uncle Ren got me for my second birthday.

What can I say, it was very comfortable and had become my favorite outfit. I figured I needed a pick me up on my first day of school and was wearing it for comfort.

I nervously clutched at my mother's hand as we walked down different streets observing the town waking up and getting ready for the new day.

We soon arrived at a three story square building not far from the main island building that also served as jiji's office.

In front of the building was a gathering crowd of parents and young children.

My mother knelt down in front of me placing both her hands on my shoulders.

"Now Kushina-chan there is no need for such a serious face. You're going to have so much fun at school. Learning and hopefully making tons of friends! Trust me, everything is going to turn out so much better than you think it will." She said in a cheery tone.

Just then a bell rang out through the grounds and kids started hugging their parent's good bye before heading into the building.

"Now here is your backpack. It is filled with all the supplies that you will need for school and it also contains your lunch." She said while handing me the light blue backpack that was slung over her shoulder.

Kaa-chan gave me one last hung then gave me a push in the direction to the moving crowd of kids.

The older kids broke off from the group of kids and went down the left hallway.

The younger kids were herded into a smaller groups in front of a bunch of adults. The adults explained that they were our teachers and to listen for our names to be called so that we could be sorted into our classes.

My name was eventually called by a young dark red haired woman. I then went over to the group of kids gathering in front of her. She soon came to the end of her list. The woman gestured for her group to follow her down the hall and into one of the class rooms.

"Find a seat and sit it." The woman called as she headed to the desk at the front of the room.

Everyone filled into the room and sat down at the desks that were arranged in rows in groups of two.

Once everyone had taken a seat the woman stood in front of the class and began her introduction.

"Hello everyone I am your new teacher Etsu Uzumaki. Please call me Etsu-sensei!" She said.

"Good morning Etsu-sensei!" Everyone chorused.

"Good morning everyone and welcome to your first day of school! I hope to make your next couple of years here both enjoyable and knowledgeable ones." Etsu-sensei said.

"One of the first things we are going to do is assess where everyone is on their reading and writing skills." She said as she began to walk up and down the rows passing out small packets of paper.

"Complete as much of the packet as you can then hand it in. After you complete the packet you can head outside for a free period and lunch." Etsu-sensei said as she headed back to her desk.

Silence overcame the classroom and only the noises of pencils scratching on paper was heard.

Though I had never formally learned to read and write I had picked somethings up over the years. This understanding mostly came from my days of spending time with jiji at his office and sometimes having him go over different children's books with me.

By the time that I had finished a good deal of the students had already left to play outside. After I handed in my packet and walked down the hall to the front doors. I just stood there awkwardly for a couple of minutes observing the children around me.

A lot of the boys had gathered together and seemed to have organized themselves into playing a game of tag.

The girls had split up into smaller groups and were spread out around the yard in circles talking amongst themselves.

I spotted a single girl off to the side of the yard by the back fence sitting alone under a tree. She had long black hair that shines red in the sunlight, blue eyes and a fair complexion. Drawn in by my own curiosity I headed over to where she sat.

As I got closer to where the girl sat I took in further details about her. She was wearing a short white kimono with blue designs that was tied off with a dark blue sash. Because she was sitting cross-legged I could also see that she was wearing a pair of stretch cotton shorts underneath.

"Hello, my name is Kushina! What's yours and why are you sitting over here by yourself?" I asked in a cheerful voice as I came to a stop standing in front of the girl.

She jumped at the sound of my voice and quickly looked up at me.

"My name is Haru Uzumaki." She said in a quiet voice.

"I'm sitting by myself because I am an outsider." She continued in a sullen voice.

"What do you mean Haru-chan?" I asked while tilting my head to the side in confusion.

"In case you haven't noticed, everyone in the school yard has divided my by Uzumaki and Non-Uzumaki. I don't fit in because I'm a half blood. My mother is an immigrant to the island and my father is an Uzumaki." She grumbled out.

As she told me this Haru went back looking down again and fiddling with some of the flowers that grew around the base of the tree.

"Well that's a stupid reason to avoid someone. Also anyone who calls Uzushiogakure home is part of the family. We are only about 600 or so people strong so there is no need to discriminate anyone. Besides everyone who lives on the island contributes to help keeping Uzushiogakure safe and running!" I ranted with a small frown on my face.

I then sat myself down next to Haru-chan and turned to face her with a smile on my face. A choice already made in my head.

"Also I know one person you will find a friend in Haru-chan. Me!" I said.

I stuck my hand out in greeting.

"I'm Kushina Uzumaki! Your new best friend for life!" I exclaimed.

A small hopeful smile crossed Haru's face as she turned to face me and clasped my hand in return.

"It's nice to meet you Kushina." Haru said.

Haru and I spent the next half an hour or so talking about ourselves. We also at some point started eating our lunches.

Before we knew it the bell rang calling everyone back inside to get back to school. This time when we sat down again I made sure to snag the seat next to Haru.

At the end of the day at around two-thirty in the afternoon I ran outside to meet my mother. As we walked away I caught sight of Haru with a pretty black haired woman. I managed to catch her eyes and we waved good bye.

"Who was that?" My mom asked catching the exchange.

"My new friend Haru." I replied happily.

"A new friend. That's wonderful Kushina-chan! I guess that means the school day turn out alright." Kaa-chan asked.

"Yup!" I said as I began to swing our joined hands back and forth.

As we continued home I continued to tell kaa-chan about how my first day of school went.

* * *

The days soon started to blend into one another. Between attending school, hanging out with Haru-chan and beginning my ninja training I was kept busy.

With school one of the first things the teacher started the class on was reading.

The first step for reading was recognizing the strange characters of the language. It was a bit difficult for me to start memorizing because firstly there were so many different lines involved in one character and secondly one character could sometimes mean more than one thing.

Still the teacher took our small class through it one step at a time. Etsu-sensei would take the time to read to the class slowly, either writing characters out on the chalk board or through different children's books, going about pointing out what each character meant and helping us pronounce the words slowly.

Homework involved taking home worksheets each night with different small sentences to work through.

Like reading, writing was also a bit of a difficult task. Though the class did not start writing till we had had a couple of months of reading under our belts.

The katakana characters that writing involved was also very difficult for me. Not only were many of the different characters not so easy to memorize but my chubby fingers still had a bit of a hard time griping different writing utensils such as a pen, pencil or paint brush.

Still Etsu-sensei took our class through different exercises to strengthen our finger dexterity and coordination. One such game she introduced the class to was cat's cradle, it was a fun game that I was soon bothering everyone I knew to play with me.

For etiquette lessons I was split between three different teachers. I given different lessons by either both my parents, a hired tutor, or the basic ones given by the school about how to carry about proper conversations and ceremonies in different social situations.

At school the class were given lessons about different types of honorifics there were and when to use them.

With my parents and tutor I got a more in-depth teaching on how to carry about polite conversation and different ways to navigate conversation in a political or ceremonial setting.

Thankfully all of these lessons were somewhat spaced out so that I still had plenty of free time during the day to still be a kid.

The morning was for school, the afternoon was for homework and tutoring and the evening for hanging out with my cousins and Haru.

After about sixth months or so of this when I finally seemed to have somewhat of a grasp on reading, it was just the big words that sometimes messed me up, when my parents finally told me they would start my ninja training.

Sadly their idea of starting training was a total let down. All they did was have me practice different stretches and do tones of running.

The stretches soon lead into practicing different forms of acrobatics. I soon forgave my parents for the lame training so far when I was soon doing cartwheels, backflips, frontflips, handstands, round offs, rolls and handsprings.

Kaa-chan defiantly felt annoyance at teaching me all of these acrobatics because in fun I kept practicing everywhere I went including in the house. Note that I said practicing, meaning while I could perform most of these moves I was not perfect yet and as a result kept knocking things over. We lost four picture frames, three vases, two chairs and one coffee table to my antics.

There was also a list of injuries I received on my own during practice. I broke a couple of fingers a few times. Sprained and twisted my ankles five times, dislocated my shoulders four times, broke my kneecap three times, broke my led twice and popped my hip bone once. I was internally grateful for medic-nin because of them I was usually back up and running by the end of the week after these injuries.

Tou-chan laughed every time he was home to hear a crash followed by my sleepiest "Sorry". Kaa-chan on the other hand could often be heard yell and chasing me around the house with a frying pan waving threateningly in her hands. Her long red hair floating about her head in numerous tails.

After see this display a certain amount of times I asked her about the trick after she had calmed down from chasing tou-chan around the house one evening because he made a comment about her cooking. It was a good intimidation factor. Tou-chan always got this petrified look on his face and cowers to any of her demands.

She admitted it was a small trick of channeling some of her chakra through her hair strengthening the strands. Anger also effects the chakra causing it to become thicker and wilder. Therefore changeling her chakra through her hair at that moments causes the effect.

After hearing this explanation I really couldn't wait to start learning about how to use my chakra.

* * *

When I was around four years old and because I was doing amazing with reading and writing my parent decided to start me on the beginning stages of my fuinjutsu training.

I was given some beginner books and scrolls to memorize on the language of fuinjutsu.

Every Uzumaki had some form of fuinjutsu training and I was going to be no different.

Fuinjutsu was an art that could theoretically do just about anything and because of that learning had to be taken slowly and seriously.

My parents walked me through the very basics which was reading fuinjutsu. Every line, swirl and design had a different meaning and could each do something different. Line length and density combined with chakra output each meant something different. Similar designs with just small variations could do completely different things.

Fuinjutsu soon became my new obsession. Whenever I had some free time I had a book about fuinjutsu cracked open in front of me. I was yelled at numerous times during classes by Etsu-sensei for reading my book instead of paying attention during class.

Haru-chan laughed at my new obsession but was a supportive friend. She took extra notes during class when I was not paying attention, she listened to my many ramblings during our free moments at school and during our free time after school.

Because to properly utilize fuinjutsu I would need to channel chakra about three months into studying it I was finally started on lessons about chakra.

During one of her free weeks kaa-chan sat me down after school and gave me a long lesson on chakra. I learned about its physical and mental aspects, how its effects on a person's body, and the many uses ninja has found for chakra.

But before I could get into all the cool things I had to learn to meditate to unlock my chakra first. Which for a fidgety active person such as myself this was a difficult thing to do.

Kaa-chan took me out to the back yard and we sat our back yard cross legged under the tree facing each other.

"The trick is too black everything out. To relax and focus inward." Kaa-chan said.

I peaked through my half closed eyes at her relaxed profile.

"Focus Kushina-chan." Kaa-chan admonished somehow sensing that I did not have my eyes closed like she did.

I jumped slightly at her voice before closing my eyes again.

Breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth I focused on trying to clear my mind for the seventh time in the last hour trying to accomplish the task.

" _Focus inward."_ I kept thinking.

I soon encountered a mini burning whirlpool of energy. There were small bits of the energy that broke off and flowed throughout my body, but most of it stayed located near my stomach.

The energy was so warm and comforting. I spent some time just admiring it and poking at it. It took a couple of minutes to remember why I was looking for this energy in the first place.

The pathways leading my chakra out into my body were only opened to allow the bare minimum through. I needed to send through a quick burst of chakra through my coils to jump start them into accepting more energy into my system regularly.

This is not as easy as it sounds I soon found out. It took a few tries before I finally completed my task. But by then I had tired myself out using up the little chakra I had to complete this task.

When I opened my eyes again after an unknown amount of time I met my mother's proud smile.

"Good job Kushina-chan, that will be all for the day. Go inside and lie down. Grab a fruit on the way to your room. You need to take it easy and recharge." Kaa-chan said.

I nodded and headed inside for a nap. I awoke around dinner time and finished up my Friday night homework afterwards before going back to bed.

The next day was Saturday and because there was no school today I planned on spending it exploring my newly unlocked chakra system.

I woke up extra early the next morning and dragged my father outside for a lesson on chakra while kaa-chan started cooking breakfast.

"The proper manipulation of chakra is the key to a ninja's life." Tou-chan said.

The two of us stood facing each other in the back yard in the early morning light.

With one hand on his hip and the other bent with pointer finger up he began his quick lecture.

"There are the fancier well know aspects that ninja use chakra such as ninjutsu, genjutsu, fuinjutsu and to an extant even medical ninjutsu. But it is for things like taijutsu that chakra is most important for. A ninja is almost constantly using chakra whether it's to silence their footsteps, extend their five senses, or to strengthen their body. Because of the constant flow of chakra through their bodies practically everything is being strengthened to work at its top performance and more."

I stared wonder eyed at my father during his lesson on chakra.

"A couple of such examples of extraordinary feats that chakra allows a ninja to preform is roof hoping and sticking to vertical surfaces." Tou-chan said.

As he said this tou-chan demonstrated by jumping up onto the roof of the house in one powerful leap. Then tou-chan started walking vertically down the side of the house as if it were flat ground.

"This is accomplished by sending chakra to ones legs. Strengthening the muscles and coating the feet with a thin layer of chakra to stick. The extra chakra circulating through the system helps stop the blood from rushing towards the head." Tou-chan explained.

Immediately after this quick explanation I ran head first at the side of the house with what I hoped was the right amount of chakra sent to my feet.

"Kushina wait!" I heard my father yell just as I started running up the wall.

The next things I knew was that there bang a loud banging noise and that I was being propelled across the yard. My descent was stopped as I was thankfully caught in my father's arms.

"What were you thinking? Please think next time before you act Kushina. Chakra is not something you mess around with especially when just starting out, that just leads to serious injuries or death." Tou-chan yelled at me after first making sure I was relatively unharmed.

"What the heck is going on out here?" Called my mother's voice.

Both tou-chan and I turned towards the sound and saw the sight of a furious kaa-chan's face sticking out of a wide whole in the side of our house.

" _So that's what the big bang was from."_ I though nervously.

"Ha, well you see Kishiko-chan." Tou-chan stuttered nervously.

"Just get inside and eat breakfast. As long as no one was hurt everything is ok. Just know that you will be in charge of fixing the whole in the side of our house by the end of the day or there will be consequences Katsuo-kun." Kaa-chan said in a weirdly sweet voice with her long hair floating wildly about her face.

"Yes ma'am." We both said as we rushed inside.

After breakfast it was my mother that took me back outside to train with my chakra. While my father rushed off to find supplies to fix the whole on the side of the house.

Kaa-chan and I both sat crossed legged under the tree in the back yard facing each other.

"While this might not seem like the most interesting place to start at the leaf sticking exercise is the best place to start when one first starts to manipulate their chakra. The exercise starts with you sticking leafs to different parts of your body. This trains you on how to move and control chakra in different parts of your body. The better you get the exercise the more objects you add on and the denser you make these objects weigh. Eventually you want to be able to walk around unconsciously hold things such as rocks, papers, and toys to your body with no effort." Kaa-chan explained.

"Start with trying to get a leaf to stick to your forehead." Kaa-chan said while demonstrating by picking a leaf from the tree we were sitting under, placing it on her forehead and having it stick there.

I spent the day working at the exercise with little success except for quick second bursts.

Now inbetween school, fuinjutsu lessons, working out and playing with friends I worked on getting a leaf that I constantly carried around to stick to my head.

It took about a week for me to actually accomplish the task of having the leaf stick to my forehead for about five minutes.

After that I eagerly took to the task of increasing the amount of time I could stick a leaf to my forehead. I also soon took to sticking random household objects such as paperclips, pencils, rocks and marbles to my body whenever I was at home to help increase chakra control. I was warned away from practicing when out in public because it did pose as a weird sight to the locals.

Still everything was an interesting blend of spending time with love ones, schooling, and my encompassing hobby of ninja training.

* * *

By five years old I had really started to come a long in both my schooling and ninja training.

Reading had really become a love of mine and learning new sealing techniques was a close second.

I was further along in chakra control exercises and was already enjoying the fun of roof hopping.

The added chakra control of being to stick to different vertical surfaces also helped benefit my pranking skills.

I was now the mastermind behind most operations. Though I did try to keep the pranks that I pulled funny and not harmful.

This included trying to make pranks that did not cause injuries, vandalism, or could be considered bullying.

Some of the pranks that I did come up with and put into action were loading up the offices in the main building with crabs, putting trigger seals all around the city set to explode confetti when someone walked by and stringing random peoples laundry over the main square.

Yeah, I was not the polices favorite person. Though surprisingly I had not worked myself up to enemy number one spot yet. That spot was still held by my twin cousins Akira and Radian, whose pranks were even more elaborate and somewhat destructive. Sense most of their pranks caused property damage it was no wonder that they were not well liked by the police.

Sadly I could never convince Haru-chan to pull pranks with me. She was defiantly a gentle and quiet soul. While I grew louder, rambunctious, and free spirited as time went on. Some people questioned why we were even still friends with all the differences that we had.

Where Haru was calm and quiet I was fidgety and loud. She was a well-mannered civilian girl while I was the rowdy granddaughter of the clan head. She used words to solve her arguments while I usually hit first and asked questions later.

My ninja training had picked up in the past year and because of that some weeks I did not see Haru outside of school.

Still when I could I tried to find the time to include my first friend in some of the non-ninja activities that I did.

* * *

The week of my sixth birthday came a record breaking summer heat wave for Uzushiogakure. In response everyone tried to stay inside where the air conditioning was or head down to the beach for the day.

One of these afternoons my parents, aunts and uncles decided to be the chaperones and make an afternoon of taking my cousins, Haru-chan and I to the beach for the afternoon.

When we arrived at the beach the children took off towards the water and the adults made camp in the shade laying out on towels.

The cool ocean water was just what I craved in this heat wave. For a couple of hours everyone just had fun playing and splashing in the water.

At around lunch time us children were called back to the beach of a picnic set up by the adults.

Haru-chan and I finished eating a bit earlier then everyone else.

"Hey, Haru-chan! Want to go explore further up the beach for shells?" I asked.

I wanted to do something that was just the two of us, so I hope going off on our own would amount to something fun between the two of us.

"Sure." She replied.

So after a quick word to my parents telling them where we were going, we headed further up the beach.

The two of use soon got caught up in the moment. Between splashing in the water, poking at crabs, finding different seashells and racing each other up the beach the two of us had wandered quiet far away from the adults.

"Look at this Kushina-chan!" Haru-chan called to me.

I turned from dusting off a couple of shells that I had found to see her crouched by the edge of the water poking at something with a stick.

"What?" I called as I headed over to her.

"I think this is a jellyfish." She said in wonder.

I looked over her shoulder at the clear jelly like substance she was poking at.

"Cool! Let me try!" I said. Trying to take the stick to have a turn poking at the weird jelly substance.

We began a quick tug of war over the stick.

"Well, well what do we have here?" A deep man voice interrupted our argument.

Haru-chan and I suddenly force at the sound of the unfamiliar voice and slowly turned to face it.

There were two men looming above us. Both had dark brown hair, pale skin and were dressed in scruffy fishermen's outfits.

Still there was just something off about the two men. They both gave off this dark and scary feeling that quickly had Haru and I paralyzed where we stood.

" _Is the killing intent my parents told me about and for it to be this potent wouldn't these two have to be ninja. But they don't look like they are Uzumaki. What are they doing here and what do they want with us?"_ I though nervously.

In a blur of speed both men shot forward and grabbed Haru and I.

The man who grabbed me seemed to be the one in charge because he was the one to do most of the talking.

"We already have the documents that we were ordered to obtain, now all we need is a manageable Uzumaki. I recognize this one as the clan heads granddaughter." The man holding me said.

"I don't recognize the other girl. She doesn't have any indicators of being a Uzumaki. Kill her, she collateral damage." He said to his companion.

Both Haru and I tensed at his words.

" _What am I going to do? We're too far away from my parents for help to arrive on time and Haru has no training. Plus these guys have to be really good if they could pull off infiltrating the island."_ I though.

My breaths came more quickly as fear set in.

" _How are we going to get out of this situation? These two at least want me alive, but plan to kill Haru-chan. I need to do something!"_ I said in my head.

In what seemed like slow motion the man holding Haru pulled a kunai from his sleeve and brought it up towards her throat.

Haru-chan and I locked eyes. Both of us had tears streaming down our faces. Both are eyes held terror in them, but mine also held a bit of despair and helplessness.

" _All that training and it can't help me when I need it the most to save my friend. Why aren't I strange enough?"_ I though in despair.

The man quickly brought his kunai across Haru's throat and red liquid sprayed everywhere. Haru's body dropped lifelessly to the ground.

I cold hard despair and rage combination engulfed me.

"No!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"Shut up!" The man holding me growled.

He threw me down on the ground near Haru's body. I sobbed loudly at the closer view of my friend's body.

"I said be quiet!" He yelled. The man stepped forward and back handed me sharply across my face.

"Go dump the body in the forest, then meet me by the docks so we can get off tis island." My captor said to his accomplice.

Rage momentary overcame my grief.

" _No these two were not going to get away with murdering my best friend!"_ I promised.

My back suddenly hurt as something ripped from it. Both of my attackers gave surprised shouts.

There was sounds of movements, crashes and the clang of metal. Suddenly there were two loud suction like noises before all sound stopped.

I did not even spare any attention for the fight or when I was splattered with a sticky liquid. All that I had eyes for was Haru-chan. Cold and bloody Haru-chan. I crawled over to her body and held her tightly in my arms. Not caring about the further amount of blood she covered me in.

Suddenly I sensed that I was not alone anymore. For a second I panicked when other people joined us in the clearing and automatically swung my strange new chain appendages around to face the new threat.

When I was meet with worried but hardened faces of my parents and other relatives my body instantly went slack with relief.

Tou-chan quickly appeared at my side catching me before I hit the ground. Kaa-chan along with my aunts were there pulling me away from Haru.

"No, don't take her. Please she needs me." I sobbed.

"Kushina-chan, I need you to focus on my voice." Tou-chan said in a soothing voice.

After I turned my tear stained face towards him and caught his eyes he gave me a tight smile.

"There that's it. Now you and I are going to focus on deactivation your chakra chains." He said.

At the reminder of the chains and what was currently speared on them I tensed up and I started to hyperventilate again.

"Hey Kushina-chan, let's have none of that now. Focus on me. We're going to take some deep breaths together." Tou-chan said calmly.

After I had calmed down a bit tou-chan started talking soothingly to me again.

"Now I want you to focus on your chakra, more specifically the part that controls your chains. Focus on drawing that chakra back into your body." He said.

It took a bit and some more depth breaths for the chain to retreat back into my back with a sucking sensation.

After that tou-chan straightened up and stood with me in my arms. Tou-chan then began barking out orders to everyone present.

"Kishiko, please take Kushina home and clean her up. After you have calmed her down a bit more rendezvous at Yuudai-sama's office." Tou-chan said while carefully passing me off into my mother's waiting arms.

"Tadao and Koij take Haru's body to the coroner, then inform her parents of what happened."

"Kana, Miyu and Kokona please go back to the beach and pack up our belongings. Take Akira, Raiden and Gin with you." He said

"Kiyoshi, Ren and Minori, you're with me. We'll clean this up and report directly to Yuudai-sama." Tou-chan finished.

Everyone responded with a quick yes and were then off in burrs of speed.

I huddled in my mother's arms as she used the ninja way of travel to get us home quickly.

Once landing in front of our house kaa-chan quickly went inside and carried me to the bathroom. Where she proceeded to help me out of my bloody clothes and get me into a bath.

I sat silently sat in the tube with my knees pull up to my chest hugging my legs. Kaa-chan slowly used a sponge to wash down my body.

"I'm sorry that you had to experience death so soon. I had hoped I could protect you from this side of the ninja life for a little longer." Kaa-chan whispered.

Those words triggered a whole new round of gut wrenching sobs from me.

Kaa-chan quickly finished up my bath. She then picked me up out of the tube, wrapped me in a towel and brought me into my room.

Kaa-chan and I cuddled on my bed. She spooned me close to her body with my head resting over her heart. Rubbing my back she hummed a random tune.

I soon wore myself out from crying and slipped into an unsteady sleep.

* * *

 **I apologies for this chapter and hope everyone was able to follow along with my many time skips.**

 **Plus I know that it has been a couple of weeks sense I have updated. Please be patient with me. Life sometimes gets in the way. I will try to update at least once a month, but twice a months is my new ultimate goal.**

 **This is also my first fight seen. I tried using the fact that Kushina is in shock over her friend's death to get out of writing one right now. I defiantly need to work on writing one though. The Naruto world is all about fighting!**

 **Anyway I am trying to let my creative juices flow. Kushina going to Konoha is going to be in the next chapter. That then begins a couple of chapters of aghast because Kushina is being forced to move to a new place with little hope of going home again. Moving in with a great-aunt she has never met and starting over in a new place with so many people with so many different physical features from those around her is going to be tough on Kushina. Then hearing about the about the death of her clan is going to really start her on an emotional rollercoaster.**


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